Glasses Direct, GlassesUSA and Zenni – Which is the Best Online Glasses Retailer?

Buying glasses online gives you a ton of options at much lower prices than in-store. But the quality of those frames varies widely from retailer to retailer, and it can be difficult to tell how sturdy a pair will be until you get them in your hands. So we surveyed a handful of top-rated online glasses retailers to compare their selection, pricing, home try-on kits and return windows.

Glasses direct is the UK’s leading online retailer, with a huge catalog of fashionable frames that costs up to 60 per cent less than high street stores. The company was founded in 2004 and has grown to serve three million customers a year. It offers a home try-on program, and its 14-day return window is among the shortest we reviewed.

Customer Chronicles: Success Stories with Glasses Direct Eyewear

The sizable GlassesUSA offers a large selection of name brands and house brands, along with a ton of virtual tools that help shoppers compare and find the perfect pair. We especially loved the style quiz, which aims to point you in the right direction based on your current style and brand preferences.

Zenni is a popular choice for many shoppers, selling a full-featured pair of glasses for significantly less on average than its competitors. It’s also in-network with several major insurance plans and makes it easy to request out-of-network reimbursement on many more. And its website provides an informative alert when you’ve placed an order that exceeds your plan’s maximum, rather than kicking you back to the beginning of the process without any clear explanation (as we found with Eyebuydirect and GlassesUSA).